Shaft-connecting gear for motor road-vehicles.



No. 727,289. PATENTED MAY 5, 1903.

F. OHARRON & L. GIRARDOT. SHAFT CONNECTING GEAR FOR MOTOR ROAD VEHICLES.

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PATENTED MAY 5, 1903. F. GHARRON, & L. GIRARDO SHAFT GONNEGTING GEAR FOR MOTOR ROAD VEHICLES.

APPLIOATION FILED MAE. s, 1903.

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PATENT UFFTGE.

SHAFT-CONNECTING GEAR FOR MOTOR ROAD-VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 727,289, dated May 5, 1903. Application filed March 3,1903. Serial No, 145,971. (No modeln To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that we, FERDINAND CHARRON and LEONOE GIRARDOT, citizens of the Re public of France, and residents of 7 Rue Ampere, Puteaux, Seine, in the Republic of France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shaft-Connecting Gear for Motor Road-Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to new or improved means for connecting the motor-shafts of motor road-vehicles to the driven shafts or shafts of the driven wheels, the said shafts being in line with each other.

The invention has the advantage of reducing to a minimum the inertia of the parts carried by the driven shaft and of requiring a very Weak spring to automatically secure the coupling, thus obviating longitudinal stress on the shaft by which the rapid wear of the bearings is caused.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a front View of the connecting-gear seen from the position of the driven shaft, and Fig. 2 a longitudinal crosssection of the couplinggears.

The connecting-gear essentially comprises a hollow cylindrical pulley a, mounted loosely on the end of the motor-shaft m and connected to the driven shaft 0 by a Oardan joint 6. This pulley is surrounded by a metal strap or band d, one end of which is fastened to the fiy-wheelf, keyed on the motor-shaft, and the other end to the arm 9 of a bent lever pivoted to the said fly-wheel. The longer arm h of the said lever is subject to the continuous pull of a spring 1', attached to the fly-wheel at j, so that the rounded end of a finger is on the lever-arm h tends to remain in continuous frictional contact with the shaft 0, and consequently to move apart the ends of the band (Z.

A hollow truncated cone n is fixed to a grooved sleeve Z, adapted to slide on the shaft 0, and when this cone is pushed to the left, as seen in Fig. 2, it passes under the finger it of the lever-arm h and rotates the bell-crank lever h 9 about its pivot, thus moving the movable end of the band cl toward the fixed end of the said band and tightening the latter on the pulley. The pulley and the shaft 0 will thereupon be driven. The movement of the sleeve Z toward the left is automatically effected by a helical metal spring 0, placed on shaft 0 between the said sleeve and a fixed abutment on the said shaft. Even with a comparatively weak springthecouplingis instantaneous by reason of the arrangement of the levers and the large friction-surfaces of the band (Z on the pulley a.

The device described tends to remain permanently coupled. For disconnecting the driving-gear a foot-lever or the like is operated in the usual manner and moves the sleeve Z toward the right, Fig. 2, by means of a train of levers. During this movement of the sleeve Zthe lever g h, actuated by the spring 1', pivots in the opposite direction to that of its first movement, so that the finger 7c slides toward the end of the cone n, and the two ends of the band 01 move apart. By this means the said band is disconnected from the pulley. When disconnected or open, the band 0?- bears against two abutments q and 7' on the fly-wheel. tion of the said hand during traveling, as well as the eventual driving of pulley a, is prevented.

Having now described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A connecting-gear for the shafts of motor-cars and the like, comprising a pulley a connected to the shaft 0 to be driven, in combination with a metal band or strap d externally surrounding the said pulley, a fly-wheel f keyed to the motor-shaft m, means for fixing one end of the said strap dto the fly- Wheel, a bell-crank lever g h pivoted on the fiy-wheel and having its shorter arm connected with the free end of the strap d, a finger k fixed to the end of the longer arm h of the said bell-crank lever, a cone-n adapted to slide on the shaft 0 to be driven, a spring 0 bearing on the said cone, a sleeve Z adapted to move the said cone in the opposite direction to that in which it is pressed by the spring 0, a spring 1' attached by one end to the longer arm h of the bell-crank lever g h and by the'other end to the fly-wheelf, and tending to press the finger it against the cone 42, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A shaft-connecting gear for motor-cars, comprising a pulley a connected to the shaft By this means the oscilla- 0 to be driven, in combination with a metal band or strap 61 externally surrounding the said pulley, a fiy-Wheelfkeyed to the motorshaft on, means for fixing one end of the strap 5 d to the fly-wheel, a bell-crank lever g h pivoted on the fiy-wheel, and having its shorter arm connected to the free end of the strap d, a finger 7c fixed to the end of the longer arm h of the bell-crank lover, a cone n adapt- 10 ed to slide on the shaft 0 to be driven, a spring, 0 bearing on the said cone n, a sleeve Z adapted to move the said cone in the opposite direction to that in which the spring o 

